San Jose Earthquakes sign defender Nick Lima as Homegrown Player

The San Jose Earthquakes have signed their second Homegrown Player in team history, announcing on Wednesday the signing of defender Nick Lima to a multi-year contract.

The 22-year-old played collegiately at Cal, and was a All-Far West Region First Team and First-Team All-Pac 12 selection the past two seasons.

"We're very excited to add a promising young player like Nick to our roster," said interim general manager Chris Leitch in a team statement. "We have worked closely with Nick since he was in high school, through his time at Cal and with the First Team and PDL. He will make a great addition to the Quakes' talented young core."

In four years at Cal, the Earthquakes academy product made 70 appearances and scored six goals and nine assists. He also played for the Burlingame Dragons in the PDL the last two years and has considerable experience training with the San Jose first team. He's the second Homegrown Player for the Quakes, following midfielder Tommy Thompson.

"From what I've seen of Nick, both at Cal and in training sessions with the first team, he's capable of playing both sides of the field and likes to get forward and attack," said Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear. "He has a great competitive spirit and we're very excited to see him in preseason with us in the coming months and beyond."